Hettinger County /

Hettinger County (pronunciation: /ˈhɛtɪŋɡər/ het-ing-gər) is a county located in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,477. Its county seat is Mott. The city of Hettinger, North Dakota, is in nearby Adams County. Hettinger County was named by Tom Hettinger, the great-grandson of Erastus A. Williams, who was Speaker of the Dakota Territory House of Representatives the year Hettinger was established, in honor of his father-in-law Mathias Hettinger. The county was founded by the Dakota Territory Legislature in 1883, and was formally organized with its own county government on April 17, 1907, by a proclamation signed by Governor John Burke. In 1891, the North Dakota Legislature approved legislation to annex Hettinger County into neighboring Stark County, but the law was vetoed by Governor Eli C. D. Shortridge. Annexation was attempted a second time in 1895, when the legislature passed legislation expanding the boundaries of Stark, Billings and Mercer Counties, subject to approval by the counties' voters. The vote was approved annexation went into effect November 3, 1896, and Hettinger County was eliminated. However, Wilson L. Richards, a cattle